More Central Vacuum Information

Central Vacuum DIY Installation Photos

Here's another set of photos sent to us from a proud customer.  Ross H. did a DIY installation of a central vacuum system and was kind enough to send us an email with photos attached.  We turned them into a slide show and posted them on our YouTube channel. We've got lots of useful tips and demos on our YouTube channel. Just a reminder, you can get lots of DIY advice on your website, www.centralvacuumstores.com, or call us at 1-800-221-8227 and one of our experts will be glad to answer any questions you might have.  Check out our YouTube channel.

Pictures of a Nutone Intercom Installation Upgrade

Today, I'll post my last few "favorite" blogs of 2009.  This next one qualifies as a favorite, because it is typical of our incredible customers.  You guys are always sending us pictures and comments, and it makes my job so much easier.  One of these days I'll catch up with posting all of your comments about your online shopping experience at Central Vacuum Stores, but until then, enjoy these photos from a customer who installed an intercom system in his home.

 I've said it before and I'll say it again.  Our customers are the greatest!  They are smart and resourceful, innovative and generous.  Yes, generous, because they take their time to send us emails and photos to post on this blog.  We just got these photos and details from a customer who upgraded their Nutone intercom system.  Take a look and notice their advice at the bottom of the page (Just click on the photo to enlarge).  Send us your pictures and we'll be sure to include them on this blog, or send us a video describing your installation or favorite part of your system, and we'll post it on our YouTube channel.

Central Vacuum Hide-a-Hose: A Retractable Hose You Can Install

The Hide-a-Hose is an awesome product for central vacuum systems. It is a retractable hose system where your central vacuum hose retracts back into your piping. We have installed loads of these in our local market and the great news is that you can actually install one yourself.  It isn't an easy task, but at Central Vacuum Stores we offer all the technical advice you need.  We even have step by step installation instructions on our website, a video on YouTube, and a series of three instructional articles on eHow.   Here is an email I got from a customer who installed a Hide-a-Hose with their central vacuum system.

Wow.... You guys really do it right !  My first experience with Centralvacuumstores.com  was a phone call made about 6PM my time and I actually got a real person on your end.  I found your website a great resource, unambiguous, clearly and purposefully a teaching tool for a self installer like myself. When I asked for a quote, Mary patiently talked me through the hardware.  When I placed my order, I think it was Don who sent me a couple unsolicited UPS tracking notices. The hardware has proven to be of excellent quality, the instruction sets are well written, the system after 8 enjoyable hours of installation, works very well.  We have captivated our visitors with the disappearing hose demonstration. You folks know customer service ! !  Thank you all for sharing it with us.  David O. 

 

Customer Loves Electrolux Central Vacuum System

We love to share our customers' success stories.  I received this email from a customer who did not like the central vac unit he bought, so we exchanged it for him because we know a satisfied customer is our best advertisement.  He even sent pictures for our blog. 

My sincere "Thanks" goes to you Roger.

I installed the Electrolux unit Saturday, and I am extremely pleased!! You have gone the "Extra Mile" to ensure my satisfaction with your Company. This effort, will not be forgotten. Roger, it has been a sincere pleasure dealing with you. You have proved, to me, as a Customer, "There Is Someone Listening".

My Warmest Regards,
J. Wampler

Learn more about the Electrolux central vacuum system

Central Vacuum Referrals are Result of our Service

Why should you buy from Central Vacuum Stores instead of one of the "other"  online central vacuum companies?  Consider our incredible staff of experts...like Brad Prince with over 25 years of central vacuum experience.   Here's what one of our customers had to say....

Greetings -

There’s nothing like a company-wide blast of an email on a Friday afternoon, right? You listed your whole team on the site, so I thought I’d share my experience with all of you.

Within our company, we’ve lately taken notice to the absolute lack of or total disregard for one of the core principals that every business should have embedded into their operations: customer service. I write to thank you for my recent experience with your company; for taking care of the customer and doing so in high fashion.

We needed a part, and we needed it quickly. This particular device is back-ordered everywhere! After numerous placed orders, we were days later told that the item was actually not in stock. We finally found someone that had it in stock. They took our order over the phone. After we didn’t receive the part, we followed up to find that they didn’t process the order because the card didn’t go through. Turns out they took the card number incorrectly. They did nothing to let us know of the problem. They just didn’t process or ship the item. On top that, they refused to do anything to make up for their mistake (like maybe not charge us $109 for overnight shipping).

In comes Brad to save the day! He stayed on the phone for a solid 20 minutes taking care of us and making sure everything was right. He physically walked to the warehouse and verified that the exact part was indeed in stock. We were rushed to try to get it out before the day’s shipping deadline. Brad walked the part back to shipping to check rates. We agreed on shipping terms, he processed the order, and we got our part as needed within the proper time frame. 

Your operation is an excellent one. And I appreciate that management has instilled empowerment within its team – empowerment to do whatever is needed to do to satisfy the customer.

Thanks Brad!
J. Standage

This email came at a really interesting time...just the day before we had a very unhappy customer who had hoped to surprise his wife with a central vacuum installation.  Unfortunately, his order turned into one of those Murphy's Law Orders, and when he called to check, it had not shipped, yet.  Because we had promised his products would arrive by the weekend, we went right to work and overnighted the entire shipment to him. In addition, we were in touch with UPS, tracking the item.  Right before I got the email from Mr. Standage, our General Manager called to say he had spoken with our customer and all the items had arrived as promised.  Fortunately, we seldom make these kinds of mistakes...we can't afford to with the cost of overnight shipping...But sometimes you just have to eat the cost because you have a customer that is counting on you to come through.    We don't just talk about customer service at Central Vacuum Stores, we try to treat every customer as if they are our only customer.

We Offer Expert Central Vacuum Installation Advice Based on Real Ongoing Experience

Roger is usually in the store standing by to help our customers with technical advice, however, sometimes he ventures out to see what's happening in our local installation business.  He brought me back some pictures from a job we are finishing in Sarasota, Florida. 

The home is going to be 23,000 square feet of living space.  The customer wanted a central vacuum with multi-user ability and could have opted for one of the multi-user commercial systems we carry.  However, he had a VacuMaid in a previous home and really, really liked the system.  So, we installed four of the VacuMaid S2600.  VacuMaid is made by Lindsay Mfg., the same company that manufactures our ruby colored Imperium systems.

I just wanted to share the picture of the units installed, because a picture is worth a thousand words.  I can tell you we have the experience to talk you through a central vacuum installation, but looking at pictures of one of our local jobs let's you see for yourself it's really true.   

Eureka Central Vacuum Success

Sometimes the road to success can be a little bumpy.  Here is a recent email from a customer on Cape Cod.

Attached you will find an image of the Eureka Central Vacuum system installed by Carl Steinke in my home on Cape Cod.The system is working marvelously in the house as well as the garage.  I would recommend this unit with a five star rating from my experience since purchasing it from Central Vacuum Stores. There was a major shipping issue by the shipping company that was resolved in a swift and equitable manner by Central Vacuum Stores. That alone speaks very highly about the customer Service quality of your company.  All of the effort by you and your staff should be praised for a job done with excellent professional courtesy.
Thanks everyone again for all their help.
A. Adil
P.S.
This part could be left out of your blog if necessary- a small issue-
The replacement "Ivory Wall Outlet (electrical)" does not match the ones originally sent with the unit.  Those Ivory wall outlets (two plus the one defective) were made in China. The Ivory one recently sent to replace the defective one came from Canada is much darker (more cream colored) and is a mismatch with the other two that were installed. Do you have one similar to the China Ivory outlets? Aside from that all is well here on the Cape.

Of course I am not going to leave that out of the blog, Mr. Adil.  As I write I  am wondering if we took care of your inlet issue.  It seems to me that we possibly sent out an Almond inlet instead of Ivory....and so, tomorrow morning I will be contacting Debra, our customer service manager to make sure we sent you the inlet you needed.  We want all our customers to feel like they are our only customer...and I think we may be succeeding...here's another email from another customer...

I love my vacuum-it is the same one I use at the lodge I manage. You're in my favorites! I have to say it's great to see a company who treats their customers as if they were the only customer-if you see what I mean. Thanks for what you do! Beth

 

Install a Central Vacuum System Yourself

We often get emails from customers telling us how much they love their central vacuum systems.  I try to keep up and share those on this site...but alas, I am remiss in my duties.  Here are three success stories that really highlight why we all love central vacuum systems, and why we want everyone to know, in almost every case, you can install a central vacuum system in your existing home, yourself! 

"I have a friend of mine that has a handy-man business, we do several
projects together, and whenever one of us needs a hand with a big project
that guy will call the other one and we'll try to set up a time to work on
it together (even though we live 500 miles apart).I decided this was one of those projects. As it turned out, it was much easier then I thought. My buddy was impressed with the instructions on the internet and how quickly we were able to get everything up and going. Both of us were amazed at how much better the system cleaned compared to the old upright cleaner and hardly any noise in the cleaning areas. Thanks for all your help with setting up my order everything was great."
R. Collins

"Since I am doing most of the installation myself, I am not quite through with it.  But I am getting close.  Now the wife can use the hide-a-hose but cannot use the other
outlets until I get the door mounted on the hide-a-hose outlet.  But everything is going great.  I figure my next days off I will get it all wrapped up so it will be fully functional. One of the main reasons it is taking me so long is that I must work around my schedule at the hospital where I work nights.  I spent most of my two days off this week crawling around under the house cutting, fitting and gluing up 180 feet of 2 inch pvc pipe.  I guess my bald head found about every sharp edge and corner under this house.  Not only do I have very little hair on top, I now have a lot less skin on my head than I did two days ago.  Some at work accused me of being beat up by my wife finally.  Not so...Again, thanks for checking on my progress and if I do run into anything I cannot figure out I will get in contact with you.  So far I have had
excellent response to anything I have needed."
Dean

"Just wanted to let you know we are very happy with our new system. I had central vac in my previous home for 15 years and when we moved, it was very difficult to live without! My husband and I installed it on a Saturday with very few problems given the house is 50+ years old and working through a crawl space environment. As soon as I turned it on, the dogs remembered and were in line "fighting" over who would be next to be vacuumed!! They loved it then and they love it now!! Having central vac is a must with 4 dogs!

It was certainly a pleasure ordering from your company and we thank you for your prompt delivery service and this follow up email!"

Sincerely,

Dan & Kathy C.

Central Vacuum Muffler Gets "Pimped"

I love doing this blog, and the reason I love it is because of our customers.  They send us pictures of their installs, their dogs, their dogs helping with the installs, and the list goes on and on.  They do some of the cleverest things and then they email and send us pictures that highlight their accomplishments.  If you become a Central Vacuum Stores customer just know that you are part of a group of really fun, clever, savvy consumers. Recently, one of our clever customers, Alfredo, ordered our Imperium Industrial Muffler for his Beam central vacuum system that was just making too much noise.  I got this email from Alfredo today, along with a picture.  Enjoy....

I ordered the muffler for my central vac and "pimped" it out a little. Could not let it stay just drab white so... after a little Krylon paint... AHHH... sheer beauty.. Oh Yeah, the muffler toned down the high pitch to a comfortable level. A1A product. see the attached work of art pic..
Alfredo from Jacksonville

Here's the Imperium Industrial Muffler we sent to Alfredo....

 

 

 

 

And here's what Alfredo did with that muffler....

Central Vacuum is Best

In March of 2006, Roger and I were invited to the Cayman Islands to advise a customer on his central vacuum installation.  A.L. Thompson, owner of A.L.Thompson's Home Depot  in the Cayman Islands, was in the process of building a 15,000 square foot home.  The house was under construction when Hurricane Ivan hit the islands, leaving a path of destruction in it's wake.  The house survived, but Al said the hurricane revealed problems with his existing roof and so, mid construction, he had to re-roof the entire house. 

After a lengthy tour, Roger made some suggestions, and Al chose the Imperium CV15000.   This was my favorite central vac consultation ever, because the next day we were able to spend some time snorkeling. Recently Roger heard from Al.  He sent us a picture of his completed house and wanted to let Roger know that the central vacuum system is the best!  It is one of his favorite things in his new house, and there are a lot of  nice amenities in that house!

If you visit Grand Cayman, be sure to go by A.L.Thompson's Home Depot and as you tour the island keep an eye out for this incredible house. Thanks, Al, for letting us be a part of your project.